I do not understand why it has always been easy for us as human beings to complain or murmur when things go wrong or when things do not work out as we would desire.

I also do not know if any of you are like me…. whenever I hear the story of the exodus narrated; of how God led the children of Israel out of Egypt into the wilderness and finally to Canaan, I oft wonder, how could these people even complain the way they did?

I mean, can you imagine all those signs and wonders that God performed, delivering them from the hands of their oppressors including the signs He performed as He led them through the wilderness. God literally provided for their every need, He ensured that not even their shoes or clothes got worn out; leading and guiding them in a pillar of a cloud and in a pillar of fire to give them light during the day and the night.

He was there for them. Day and night, night and day; He never forsook them for a moment. Yet they complained.

“How dare they? Right?” asks Agnes.

And yet when I begin to reflect upon my own life…I find several instances of murmuring and complaining either about the people I have been called to serve, the places I have been called to serve, some painful circumstances in my life, and several other things I am even embarrassed to list.

Just like the children of Israel, I forget easily, that the same God who has provided for me in the past, delivered me from the curse of sin, has kept my heart beating up to this moment, clothed me with blessing after blessing, and so many other things He has done for me, is the same God who allows some circumstances to occur or even persist in my life.

The same God who has never ceased to be sovereign. The same God who never makes mistakes as learnt from the previous post, the same God who knows all things.

Even this body and this life that I fear to lose, He is still the one who sustains it.

O now when I think about it, God does not deserve my complaining. And I do not mean that there shouldn’t be an honest expression of the uncomfortable or painful circumstances in my life to Him, what I mean is that bickering, temper tantrums attitude, and internal strife kind of complaining.

God deserves all my praise; for He is good.

Coincidentally this week (which I have been learning that there are never really any coincidences with God…but God-incidences), I was exhorted by somebody to thank God alphabetically. I wanted to do so on my personal journal but thought to do it on my blog instead.

Psalms 107

1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good: for His mercy endures for ever.
2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

Therefore, I will list the things that I am grateful and thankful to God for from my heart as I also exhort you to do the same in your own way.

Dear Lord, thank you for all the things below that You have provided for me in Your love, wisdom and kindness. Certainly, I cannot exhaust all Your blessings to me for sure because some of them have been more than I could even express by word or letter.

A–       Air that I breathe every day. What a blessing that I wake up every day to an environment that is not polluted, but is filled with lots of trees and green vegetation surrounding me.

Avocado. How can I forget avocados? Lord, for sure when You sent forth Your word during creation, I know You had me in mind when You thought of avocados. Thank You exceedingly for avocados. You know for sure it is my favourite fruit.

B –      Birds of the air. Birds that chirrups with melodious sounds everyday blessing my mornings, especially Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Bread and Butter. I just had to throw in these two. You know my love for butter runs deeper than the ocean. Thank You Lord, my life has been made sweeter because there is butter…This means I am also thankful for cows too haha. While writing this I randomly remembered a song we used to sing in Sunday school…how interesting! Lol

🎶Wonder why….wonder why….wonder why Jesus is good to me. He sugars my tea and butters my bread…wonder why Jesus is good to me.🎶

C –      Church. Thank you Lord for Your church; thank You for the body of Christ as a whole. What a miracle it is, that we are not born of the same parents (blood), neither by flesh, nor by the will of man, but we are all born of God. Thank You for all the lovely saints You have allowed me to know. I am amazed at how much I learn from them in their own walk with Christ. Thank You for drawing us together in Christ, also for drawing us by the multitudes to Your being.

D –      Discernment and Diversity of gifts. Thank You for the gift of discernment and bestowing upon me diverse gifts to use for Your glory.

E –       Electricity. I do not know why I kept thinking of eggs when I got to E lol (thank You for eggs and chicken). Anyway, now that I think about it, it is just heartbreaking how I have taken for granted the electricity that I use. I have no idea how the previous generations survived without electricity…maybe they were happier, and possibly even more attuned to the things of Lord as they observed the stars in the skies without the distraction of electricity. Thank You that I have been privileged to be born in a generation where we have been extremely blessed to have so much. And thus, understanding that you will require more from me, then, I pray that I may use this time and blessings wisely.

F –       Family. Thank You for the most amazing parents in the world and for their lives. We have never lacked for anything because You blessed them with the resources to provide for us. Thank You for all my siblings and for granting them life too, that we can continue to share with each other, even if not perfectly, but continuously our time and love.

Friends. Thank You Lord for all my friends, all of them – including those who I haven’t spoken to in a long while. Thank You for allowing our paths to cross and for granting me many opportunities to experience the gift of friendship.

Faith. Thank You for the gift of faith in You; that I can let go of my life and place it in Your sovereign hands and have the faith that You will accomplish what You have spoken of over my life.

G –      God. Thank You that You exist. And that Your nature is love. It is interesting now that I think about it, the scriptures always declare that Your love and mercy endure forever, never have I ever seen a statement that says, “your judgment and condemnation endure forever.” Thank you God.

H –      Health. Thank You for good health. Despite the many bodily shocks I have experienced in the past, and experience even today, You still bless me with a heartbeat, with length of days, with strength of the body to work and serve. Understanding my perfectionist ways, I do murmur when something in my body isn’t right because I have this idea that all things must be perfect. O Lord, how I pray that You help me to be thankful even when You allow pain in my body.

I –        Intuition. Thank You Lord for the wonderful gift of intuition.

J –        Jesus Christ. Yes Lord, for the best gift of all, thank You. Thank You for a friend in Jesus, A friend in whom I can pour out my every single need to, and a friend in whom I never for a moment feel ashamed of the scars of a dark past because the scriptures declare a truth that endures forever.

K –      Knowledge. Thank You for all the knowledge that You have allowed me to gain; these including but not limited to self-knowledge, life experiences, education, learning, and wisdom.

L –       Lessons of life. The burnt up situations, the heartbreaks, the rough places I have been through and the beauty that You have wrought in my life from those situations. Only You can make some things so ugly and horrible, beautiful again. Only You can use the darkness to bring forth light, only You can use death to bring eternal life. Thank You for every single lesson You have taught me and that You keep teaching me still.

M –      Music. Thank You, for blessing my heart with the melodious tunes that I get to listen to and play. Thank You too for the instruments that You have blessed me with, and giving me the gift and desire for playing the piano.

N –      Nature. Thank You for nature. You know my loves… after butter, there is nature. I haven’t travelled around much, and I know there is still much of Your creation I haven’t beheld. But for what I have been blessed to see…thank You. And thank You for creating such magnificent earth formations. What an artist You are! Stunning works of creation.

O –      Old things. I know it is an odd thing to be thankful for, but how I cherish old things, antiques, old instruments, old parchments, type writers… You know those things that look like they could tell a story. Lord, we also call You, The Ancient of days. Because You existed from the beginning of all things. This puts You on the list too. 🙂

P –       Passion. Lord, there are times I feel like I am too passionate. When I have a desire to learn something or do something that I really love I am so taken away by it that I can even feel the desire burning through my bones and veins. Thank You for a deep passion – not only for the things I love, but for service and love to you and the people You have called me to serve.

Promises of God. Thank you for all your precious promises to me in Christ Jesus. Lord, You know that if I began writing them all down, I would never exhaust them. Thank You because they are all yes in Christ. You know my most precious ones….thank You for them.

Q –      Questions. Thank you that You have allowed us to relate with You as like unto a friend. We can question You . Thank You that You answer my questions, though I know that there are several that still remain unanswered — I am learning to trust Your plan.

R –      Refining. Thank You for the refining fire. I will admit that I dislike it wholeheartedly… oftentimes despise it even; I would rather that You do not take me through it, but when I am out of the fire….Lord, I usually love the product. I love the woman You have refined for Your glory.

S –       Salvation. Thank You for the most beautiful gift all them all. The wonderful gift of Your beloved Son’s sacrifice for me on the cross. Thank you for adopting me, wanting me, choosing me, redeeming me, and loving me in Christ Jesus.

T –       Truth. Thank you for truth. This is the one aspect of life that many men have searched for and sadly gone to their graves without finding it. Truly as Jesus declared, you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Thank you that I can enjoy this freedom because You have revealed to me the truth.

U –      Understanding. Thank you Lord for understanding; the understanding of Your Word by the help of the Holy Spirit, an understanding of the times and seasons, an understanding of Your grace, and an understanding of Your love and forgiveness.

V –      Vision. Thank You Lord for eye sight to behold the beauty of your creation. Thank you too, for the vision You have for my life.

W –     Water. I have never lacked water for a single day; whether to wash clothes, dishes, or even water for drinking.

How can I forget Writing? This wonderful gift has been such as blessing to me. It has taken me to places and gotten me out of places. Thank You for gifting me with writing. I pray that I may always use it to bring glory to Your name.

X –      Xylophone. This one is for all Your beautiful saints who play this instrument. I have tried coming up with something for which I am thankful for that begins with an X, but I could only think of the Xender app. It allows me to transfer files to iOs users swiftly lol.

Y –      Yarn. Lol, I have struggled for a while to get something to be thankful for under X,Y,Z…but yes! There is yarn for knitting haha. Thank You for Yarn and that I can make beautiful creations and art from those threads of yarn.

Z –       Zen. I know it’s odd… But since you remember my old Buddhist days, thank You for those teachings of Zen that taught me meditation, gratitude, and many other rich lessons.

This list isn’t even a third of what You have done for me. But for these and much more Lord.

Thank you.

Always, Your gal!

♥